103 Puppet Jade Part 2
He repeatedly reminded himself that relying solely on the Puppet Jade was not a long-term solution, yet he was always drawn to this shortcut. Sometimes, the more Energy Storage Jade Talismans he made, the more uneasy he felt.
He didn't know how long he had been practicing when he heard Cheng Tianbi calling him. Opening his eyes, Cheng Tianbi's stern face was right in front of him. Cong Xia smiled and asked, "What's up? Is it dinner time?"
"No, the person Zhuang Yao found is here to deliver something. Let's go and take a look."
"Oh." Cong Xia was about to stand up but realized that he had been sitting cross-legged for too long, and both of his legs had gone numb.
Cheng Tianbi pressed down on his knee. "Numb legs?"
"Yeah, a little."
Cheng Tianbi crouched down and pressed his thigh, his long and powerful fingers accurately finding the acupoints for relieving muscle tension and promoting blood circulation, applying the right amount of pressure a few times.
Cong Xia felt a bit embarrassed. "Thank you."
Cheng Tianbi whispered, "Are you too thin?"
"Huh? I guess so. People in this world can't get fat at all. I haven't seen a fat person in a long time. Although I used to be skinny, I had a belly from sitting for long periods. Now it's gone, hahaha."
Cheng Tianbi looked up, his deep eyes fixed on Cong Xia without blinking. "From now on, I'll exercise in the morning. Join me."
Cong Xia smiled and replied, "Okay."
Cheng Tianbi gently touched his soft hair. "Feeling better now? Get up."
Cong Xia stood up and bounced a couple of times. "I'm fine." He felt delighted inside and wished he could chat with Cheng Tianbi a bit longer if it weren't for the fear of being seen.
Although Cheng Tianbi appeared cold and dominant to others, in Cong Xia's eyes, he was a man who, despite being quiet, was very gentle. At least, he was good to him. For Cong Xia, Cheng Tianbi was synonymous with strength and perfection. He admired him in an almost worshipful way, and there was nothing strange about it.
As the two walked out of the room, they saw everyone gathered in the living room. On the coffee table in front of the sofa, there was a brand-new laptop.
When Zhuang Yao saw them, he said, "The person delivered a new laptop and two fully charged batteries. It can run for six to seven hours if used only for watching videos, which should be enough for us to finish watching the contents inside."
The two sat on the sofa, and Cheng Tianbi said, "Go ahead."
Zhuang Yao opened the laptop, inserted the small SD card into the slot, and then opened the folder.
Most of the contents in the folder were photos. With a 32GB card, there was plenty of storage capacity, and there were over a thousand photos.
"Ah, these are the ones I took, all of them. This set is from Mount Tai. The aperture is perfect. Quickly take a look," Deng Xiao exclaimed excitedly.
Zhuang Yao ignored him and scrolled the progress bar down using the mouse. In the beginning, there were photos of landscapes, but towards the end, the photos turned pitch black. Zhuang Yao checked the time and asked Deng Xiao, "Is this the time you entered the tower?"
Deng Xiao glanced at it. "I can't remember the exact date. I don't even know the current date. But the time is wrong. I entered the tower around noon and stayed inside for less than two minutes before being bitten by the bugs and forced out."
Zhuang Yao opened a photo showing the gate of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, taken from the outside with good lighting. "This is the last set of photos you took, right?"
Deng Xiao nodded.
Zhuang Yao opened the first pitch-black photo, carefully examining it. He could still make out the patterns of the gate of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, but it was clearly taken from the inside. However, this photo shouldn't have been taken by Deng Xiao because its capture time was after 6 p.m. Zhuang Yao scrolled through the photos one by one, and most of them were completely black. Occasionally, amidst the darkness, he could see slight variations in the patterns. Some were the patterns of the gate, while others were the curves of moving bugs. It seemed that the person who took these photos didn't know how to use the flash and could only capture occasional glimpses of images using the light seeping through the gaps in the gate.
"These photos don't look like they were taken by humans. Could it be that the bugs pressed the shutter?" Cong Xia pondered.
"It's possible. Those bugs are quite capable; pressing a shutter wouldn't be a problem for them," Zhuang Yao replied.
The pitch-black photos continued for over a hundred shots, spanning from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Then the time sequence abruptly stopped. The subsequent photos had colors other than black, indicating they were taken starting from noon the next day.
Everyone anxiously stared at the screen as Zhuang Yao opened the first photo taken at noon. It still showed the gate of the tower, but this time the flash was used, and in the corner of the photo, there appeared a person's upper body. From this perspective, it was clearly taken by a human.
In the following photos, more people gradually appeared. They were all unfamiliar individuals, uniformly dressed in yellow protective suits with hoods. They resembled firefighters in full gear spraying disinfectant on television, but there were significant differences. Instead of carrying disinfectant nozzles, they held weapons.
Tang Yanqiu murmured, "Are these the mutated humans from Beijing?"
Cong Xia replied, "It's possible. The question is, which one is the water elemental evolved human?"
Deng Xiao exclaimed in surprise, "They were heavily armed like this and couldn't escape?"
"We only entered the doorway and came out. They, on the other hand, had to go upstairs to find the puppet jade. The attacks they faced must have been much worse than what we experienced."
They continued flipping through the photos, as if these mutated humans had noticed the camera and casually used it to capture their surroundings. The appearance of one particular photo sent shivers down their spines.
It was a wall covered with countless crawling bugs. The soft, wriggling insects resembled the patterns on the wall, spreading out in an intricate and dense manner with almost no gaps between them. Looking at the photo, anyone who had been to the scene could imagine the sight of these black insects undulating like a dark wave. Goosebumps formed on everyone's skin.
Liu Fengyu made a disgusted expression and sarcastically remarked, "Thank you for not letting me in at that time."
The disgust they felt from looking at the photos was unimaginable. It was no wonder that those who took the pictures had lost their mood to continue. The next photo showed the camera lens turned upside down, likely having fallen to the ground. No matter how formidable the mutated humans were, upon seeing an immeasurable wall of bugs, they would have no intention to take any more photos.
That marked the end of the photos for that time sequence. However, they were able to gather a basic understanding of the team's situation. Over ten people entered this time, including two females. Clearly learning from the previous failed attempts, they armed themselves completely and carried an ample supply of weapons. It wasn't necessarily for combating the bugs; their equipment was prepared for all potential contingencies, especially poisonous gas. Despite all this, only one exceptionally powerful evolved human managed to escape alive from the team.
No wonder the people in Xi'an talked about the Big Wild Goose Pagoda with fear. After all, even they fled in a sorry state.
The progress bar was pulled down further, and the time sequence became extremely scattered, with all the photos showing pitch-black darkness. Until... the time sequence reached the day they went to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. It wasn't because they remembered the exact time, but because they saw themselves!
When Zhuang Yao clicked on the photos, everyone's hearts leaped into their throats. The photos captured them as they noticed the bugs approaching and hastily rushed out. The camera perfectly recorded the terror on their faces, combining with the darkness and the omnipresent bugs around them. It resembled a qualified poster for a horror movie. Cong Xia looked at the familiar faces on the photos and felt as if he saw the grim reaper looming around them. It was the first time he was scared by his own photos.
Even Deng Xiao, who had a thick-skinned nature, gasped, "When were these taken? Who... who took them? We didn't even hear the sound of the shutter."
Zhuang Yao whispered, "At that time, we were focused on getting out as quickly as possible. The environment was chaotic, so how could we have paid attention to the sound of the shutter?"
Cong Xia added, "I also noticed the flash by chance, which is how I discovered the camera."
Zhuang Yao clicked on the next photo, almost causing everyone to vomit. The photo was taken from behind as they rushed to the gate, clearly showing bugs crawling all over their backs. Although everyone knew the bugs were on them at that time, actually witnessing it with no blind spots was an entirely different experience. Cong Xia, who had the least courage among them, immediately turned pale, feeling an itch on his back as if the bugs were still crawling, wriggling, and sucking his blood.
Cheng Tianbi lightly tapped his face, staring into his eyes and said in a deep voice, "Don't be afraid. It's just a photo."
Cong Xia swallowed hard and nodded, "Yeah, it's just a photo..."
Cheng Tianbi said, "Continue."
"That's it. These are the last two photos; the rest are videos." Zhuang Yao's face became solemn as he looked at the dozen or so videos. He felt a sense of unease in his heart as well.
Cheng Tianbi said expressionlessly, "Continue."
Zhuang Yao clicked on the first video, which lasted about five minutes. The screen was still pitch-black, and it remained that way until the five-minute mark with nothing else appearing.
He clicked on the second video, which was even shorter, lasting only a few seconds and having the same content as the first one.
They continued watching the subsequent videos, all of which were pitch-black with no differences. Just when they were losing patience and wanted to skip directly to the final video to see the eye that Cheng Tianbi and Cong Xia had seen, the seventh video finally had something different.
The computer suddenly emitted a sound, resembling the noise of the camera being dragged, and the footage also had slight changes corresponding to the camera's movements. Occasionally, countless enlarged bugs crawled across the screen. Suddenly, a chilling scream echoed from the computer, causing everyone's faces to pale as they instinctively retreated.
The horrifying screams sent shivers down their spines, and the camera footage began to spin chaotically. A white figure appeared briefly in the frame, then something crashed to the ground with a loud thud. The person who had been screaming now made incomprehensible sounds, as if their mouth was stuffed with something.
Liu Fengyu desperately hid behind Tang Yanqiu, his face turning pale. Finally, he grabbed onto Tang Yanqiu's arm, his expression filled with conflict. Tang Yanqiu glanced at him and whispered, "What is there to be afraid of?"
Liu Fengyu glared at him and retorted, "Who said I'm scared?"
Cong Xia wanted to say, "I'm scared," as his current state of mind was similar to watching a horror movie. In reality, he had wanted to leave a long time ago, but he felt it was necessary to uncover the secrets of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda.
Only Cheng Tianbi and Zhuang Yao remained expressionless as they observed the video footage.
At that moment, they all simultaneously sensed a powerful energy fluctuation from outside the door. Zhuang Yao also looked towards the window and said, "It's probably members of Lu Yun coming."
Cong Xia let out a sigh of relief. Finally, he didn't have to force himself to watch anymore. At least he could take a break.
Zhuang Yao cast a disdainful glance at them and said, "You're all useless. Cheng Tianbi and I will continue our research tonight. You don't need to watch anymore. We'll discuss it with you tomorrow."
Liu Fengyu also showed a relieved expression.
Cong Xia stood up and went to open the door, and was the first to see a tall and serious-looking man standing there, exuding a strong sense of masculinity. By his side was a young girl, the same one they had rescued from the snow, Yan Ting.
Yan Ting had changed into clean clothes and smiled as she greeted them, "Big brothers."
Cong Xia stepped aside and made a welcoming gesture.
103 Puppet Jade Part 2
He repeatedly reminded himself that relying solely on the Puppet Jade was not a long-term solution, yet he was always drawn to this shortcut. Sometimes, the more Energy Storage Jade Talismans he made, the more uneasy he felt.
He didn't know how long he had been practicing when he heard Cheng Tianbi calling him. Opening his eyes, Cheng Tianbi's stern face was right in front of him. Cong Xia smiled and asked, "What's up? Is it dinner time?"
"No, the person Zhuang Yao found is here to deliver something. Let's go and take a look."
"Oh." Cong Xia was about to stand up but realized that he had been sitting cross-legged for too long, and both of his legs had gone numb.
Cheng Tianbi pressed down on his knee. "Numb legs?"
"Yeah, a little."
Cheng Tianbi crouched down and pressed his thigh, his long and powerful fingers accurately finding the acupoints for relieving muscle tension and promoting blood circulation, applying the right amount of pressure a few times.
Cong Xia felt a bit embarrassed. "Thank you."
Cheng Tianbi whispered, "Are you too thin?"
"Huh? I guess so. People in this world can't get fat at all. I haven't seen a fat person in a long time. Although I used to be skinny, I had a belly from sitting for long periods. Now it's gone, hahaha."
Cheng Tianbi looked up, his deep eyes fixed on Cong Xia without blinking. "From now on, I'll exercise in the morning. Join me."
Cong Xia smiled and replied, "Okay."
Cheng Tianbi gently touched his soft hair. "Feeling better now? Get up."
Cong Xia stood up and bounced a couple of times. "I'm fine." He felt delighted inside and wished he could chat with Cheng Tianbi a bit longer if it weren't for the fear of being seen.
Although Cheng Tianbi appeared cold and dominant to others, in Cong Xia's eyes, he was a man who, despite being quiet, was very gentle. At least, he was good to him. For Cong Xia, Cheng Tianbi was synonymous with strength and perfection. He admired him in an almost worshipful way, and there was nothing strange about it.
As the two walked out of the room, they saw everyone gathered in the living room. On the coffee table in front of the sofa, there was a brand-new laptop.
When Zhuang Yao saw them, he said, "The person delivered a new laptop and two fully charged batteries. It can run for six to seven hours if used only for watching videos, which should be enough for us to finish watching the contents inside."
The two sat on the sofa, and Cheng Tianbi said, "Go ahead."
Zhuang Yao opened the laptop, inserted the small SD card into the slot, and then opened the folder.
Most of the contents in the folder were photos. With a 32GB card, there was plenty of storage capacity, and there were over a thousand photos.
"Ah, these are the ones I took, all of them. This set is from Mount Tai. The aperture is perfect. Quickly take a look," Deng Xiao exclaimed excitedly.
Zhuang Yao ignored him and scrolled the progress bar down using the mouse. In the beginning, there were photos of landscapes, but towards the end, the photos turned pitch black. Zhuang Yao checked the time and asked Deng Xiao, "Is this the time you entered the tower?"
Deng Xiao glanced at it. "I can't remember the exact date. I don't even know the current date. But the time is wrong. I entered the tower around noon and stayed inside for less than two minutes before being bitten by the bugs and forced out."
Zhuang Yao opened a photo showing the gate of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, taken from the outside with good lighting. "This is the last set of photos you took, right?"
Deng Xiao nodded.
Zhuang Yao opened the first pitch-black photo, carefully examining it. He could still make out the patterns of the gate of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, but it was clearly taken from the inside. However, this photo shouldn't have been taken by Deng Xiao because its capture time was after 6 p.m. Zhuang Yao scrolled through the photos one by one, and most of them were completely black. Occasionally, amidst the darkness, he could see slight variations in the patterns. Some were the patterns of the gate, while others were the curves of moving bugs. It seemed that the person who took these photos didn't know how to use the flash and could only capture occasional glimpses of images using the light seeping through the gaps in the gate.
"These photos don't look like they were taken by humans. Could it be that the bugs pressed the shutter?" Cong Xia pondered.
"It's possible. Those bugs are quite capable; pressing a shutter wouldn't be a problem for them," Zhuang Yao replied.
The pitch-black photos continued for over a hundred shots, spanning from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Then the time sequence abruptly stopped. The subsequent photos had colors other than black, indicating they were taken starting from noon the next day.
Everyone anxiously stared at the screen as Zhuang Yao opened the first photo taken at noon. It still showed the gate of the tower, but this time the flash was used, and in the corner of the photo, there appeared a person's upper body. From this perspective, it was clearly taken by a human.
In the following photos, more people gradually appeared. They were all unfamiliar individuals, uniformly dressed in yellow protective suits with hoods. They resembled firefighters in full gear spraying disinfectant on television, but there were significant differences. Instead of carrying disinfectant nozzles, they held weapons.
Tang Yanqiu murmured, "Are these the mutated humans from Beijing?"
Cong Xia replied, "It's possible. The question is, which one is the water elemental evolved human?"
Deng Xiao exclaimed in surprise, "They were heavily armed like this and couldn't escape?"
"We only entered the doorway and came out. They, on the other hand, had to go upstairs to find the puppet jade. The attacks they faced must have been much worse than what we experienced."
They continued flipping through the photos, as if these mutated humans had noticed the camera and casually used it to capture their surroundings. The appearance of one particular photo sent shivers down their spines.
It was a wall covered with countless crawling bugs. The soft, wriggling insects resembled the patterns on the wall, spreading out in an intricate and dense manner with almost no gaps between them. Looking at the photo, anyone who had been to the scene could imagine the sight of these black insects undulating like a dark wave. Goosebumps formed on everyone's skin.
Liu Fengyu made a disgusted expression and sarcastically remarked, "Thank you for not letting me in at that time."
The disgust they felt from looking at the photos was unimaginable. It was no wonder that those who took the pictures had lost their mood to continue. The next photo showed the camera lens turned upside down, likely having fallen to the ground. No matter how formidable the mutated humans were, upon seeing an immeasurable wall of bugs, they would have no intention to take any more photos.
That marked the end of the photos for that time sequence. However, they were able to gather a basic understanding of the team's situation. Over ten people entered this time, including two females. Clearly learning from the previous failed attempts, they armed themselves completely and carried an ample supply of weapons. It wasn't necessarily for combating the bugs; their equipment was prepared for all potential contingencies, especially poisonous gas. Despite all this, only one exceptionally powerful evolved human managed to escape alive from the team.
No wonder the people in Xi'an talked about the Big Wild Goose Pagoda with fear. After all, even they fled in a sorry state.
The progress bar was pulled down further, and the time sequence became extremely scattered, with all the photos showing pitch-black darkness. Until... the time sequence reached the day they went to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. It wasn't because they remembered the exact time, but because they saw themselves!
When Zhuang Yao clicked on the photos, everyone's hearts leaped into their throats. The photos captured them as they noticed the bugs approaching and hastily rushed out. The camera perfectly recorded the terror on their faces, combining with the darkness and the omnipresent bugs around them. It resembled a qualified poster for a horror movie. Cong Xia looked at the familiar faces on the photos and felt as if he saw the grim reaper looming around them. It was the first time he was scared by his own photos.
Even Deng Xiao, who had a thick-skinned nature, gasped, "When were these taken? Who... who took them? We didn't even hear the sound of the shutter."
Zhuang Yao whispered, "At that time, we were focused on getting out as quickly as possible. The environment was chaotic, so how could we have paid attention to the sound of the shutter?"
Cong Xia added, "I also noticed the flash by chance, which is how I discovered the camera."
Zhuang Yao clicked on the next photo, almost causing everyone to vomit. The photo was taken from behind as they rushed to the gate, clearly showing bugs crawling all over their backs. Although everyone knew the bugs were on them at that time, actually witnessing it with no blind spots was an entirely different experience. Cong Xia, who had the least courage among them, immediately turned pale, feeling an itch on his back as if the bugs were still crawling, wriggling, and sucking his blood.
Cheng Tianbi lightly tapped his face, staring into his eyes and said in a deep voice, "Don't be afraid. It's just a photo."
Cong Xia swallowed hard and nodded, "Yeah, it's just a photo..."
Cheng Tianbi said, "Continue."
"That's it. These are the last two photos; the rest are videos." Zhuang Yao's face became solemn as he looked at the dozen or so videos. He felt a sense of unease in his heart as well.
Cheng Tianbi said expressionlessly, "Continue."
Zhuang Yao clicked on the first video, which lasted about five minutes. The screen was still pitch-black, and it remained that way until the five-minute mark with nothing else appearing.
He clicked on the second video, which was even shorter, lasting only a few seconds and having the same content as the first one.
They continued watching the subsequent videos, all of which were pitch-black with no differences. Just when they were losing patience and wanted to skip directly to the final video to see the eye that Cheng Tianbi and Cong Xia had seen, the seventh video finally had something different.
The computer suddenly emitted a sound, resembling the noise of the camera being dragged, and the footage also had slight changes corresponding to the camera's movements. Occasionally, countless enlarged bugs crawled across the screen. Suddenly, a chilling scream echoed from the computer, causing everyone's faces to pale as they instinctively retreated.
The horrifying screams sent shivers down their spines, and the camera footage began to spin chaotically. A white figure appeared briefly in the frame, then something crashed to the ground with a loud thud. The person who had been screaming now made incomprehensible sounds, as if their mouth was stuffed with something.
Liu Fengyu desperately hid behind Tang Yanqiu, his face turning pale. Finally, he grabbed onto Tang Yanqiu's arm, his expression filled with conflict. Tang Yanqiu glanced at him and whispered, "What is there to be afraid of?"
Liu Fengyu glared at him and retorted, "Who said I'm scared?"
Cong Xia wanted to say, "I'm scared," as his current state of mind was similar to watching a horror movie. In reality, he had wanted to leave a long time ago, but he felt it was necessary to uncover the secrets of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda.
Only Cheng Tianbi and Zhuang Yao remained expressionless as they observed the video footage.
At that moment, they all simultaneously sensed a powerful energy fluctuation from outside the door. Zhuang Yao also looked towards the window and said, "It's probably members of Lu Yun coming."
Cong Xia let out a sigh of relief. Finally, he didn't have to force himself to watch anymore. At least he could take a break.
Zhuang Yao cast a disdainful glance at them and said, "You're all useless. Cheng Tianbi and I will continue our research tonight. You don't need to watch anymore. We'll discuss it with you tomorrow."
Liu Fengyu also showed a relieved expression.
Cong Xia stood up and went to open the door, and was the first to see a tall and serious-looking man standing there, exuding a strong sense of masculinity. By his side was a young girl, the same one they had rescued from the snow, Yan Ting.
Yan Ting had changed into clean clothes and smiled as she greeted them, "Big brothers."
Cong Xia stepped aside and made a welcoming gesture.
